Methods and Apparatus for Verifying Context Participants in a Context Management System in a Networked Environment

1. In a system comprising a first client, a context management (CM) server, a remote application server and at least one network that couples together the first client, the CM server and the remote application server, the remote application server executing at least one remote application, the first client executing at least one client application that may share a context with the at least one remote application, the first client further executing an emulation application that emulates the at least one remote application on the first client, the CM server executing a context management service to manage the context, a method of verifying that the at least one remote application is emulated on the first client and may belong to the context, the method comprising acts of: (a) receiving from the first client first information that uniquely identifies an aspect of the first client; (b) receiving from the remote application server second information that uniquely identifies an aspect of a remote client on which the at least one remote application is emulated via an emulation client program which executes on the remote client and displays output of the at least one remote application executing on the remote application server; (c) determining that the at least one remote application is emulated on the first client and may belong to the context when the first information matches the second information; and (d) if it is determined in the act (c) that the at least one remote application is emulated on the first client, allowing the at least one remote application and the at least one client application to belong to the context, the context being defined by subject data for at least one subject usable by the at least one client application and the at least one remote application, the subject data comprising, for the at least one subject, a data item having a set of values comprising at least a first value corresponding to the at least one client application and at least a second value corresponding to the at least one remote application, the set of values identifying the at least one subject in the context, so that a change to the subject data for the at least one subject instigated by one of the at least one client application and the at least one remote application causes a change in the subject data for the other of the at least one client application and the at least one remote application.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the act (a) comprises an act of receiving from the first client first information that comprises a hardware address for the first client; wherein the act (b) comprises an act of receiving from the remote application server a hardware address for the remote client on which the at least one remote application is emulated; and wherein the act (c) comprises an act of determining that the at least one remote application is emulated on the first client and may belong to the context when the hardware address in the first information matches the hardware address in the second information.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the act (b) comprises an act of receiving, at the remote application server, the hardware address transmitted from the remote client on which the at least one remote application is emulated.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising an act of: (e) if it is determined in the act (c) that the at least one remote application is not emulated on the first client, preventing the at least one remote application and the at least one client application from belonging to the context.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the context is administered in accordance with a Clinical Context Object Workgroup (CCOW) standard.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the subject data is healthcare-related.

7. In a system comprising at least one client, a context management (CM) server, a plurality of remote application servers and at least one network that couples together the at least one client, the CM server and the plurality of remote application servers, the plurality of remote application servers comprising first and second remote application servers respectively executing first and second remote applications that are emulated on the at least one client and may share a context, the at least one client executing at least one emulation application that emulates the first and second remote applications on the at least one client, the CM server executing a context management service to manage the context, a method of verifying that the first and second remote applications are emulated on a same client and may belong to a same context, the method comprising acts of: (a) receiving from the first remote application server first information that uniquely identifies an aspect of a client on which the first remote application is emulated via an emulation client program which executes on the client and displays output of the first remote application executing on the first remote application server; (b) receiving from the second remote application server second information that uniquely identifies an aspect of a client on which the second remote application is emulated via an emulation client program which executes on the client and displays output of the second remote application executing on the second remote application server; (c) determining that the first and second remote applications are emulated on the same client and may belong to the same context by examining the first information and the second information; and (d) if it is determined in the act (c) that the first and second remote applications are emulated on the same client, allowing the first and second remote applications to belong to the same context, the context being defined by subject data usable by the first and second remote applications, the subject data describing at least one subject, the subject data comprising, for the at least one subject, a data item having a set of values comprising at least a first value corresponding to the first remote application and at least a second value corresponding to the second remote application, the set of values identifying the at least one subject in the context, so that a change to the subject data for the at least one subject instigated by one of the first and second remote applications causes a change in the subject data for the other of the first and second remote applications.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein each client that emulates a remote application executing on the at least one remote application server logs into the remote application server using login information, wherein the first information comprises the login information for the client on which the first remote application is emulated and the second information comprises the login information for the client on which the second remote application is emulated.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the login information comprises a user identifier.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the first information further comprises an internet protocol (IP) address of the client on which the first remote application is emulated and the second information comprises an IP address of the client on which the second remote application is emulated.

11. The method of claim 8 , wherein the first information further comprises an address of the client on which the first remote application is emulated and the second information further comprises an address of the client on which the second remote application is emulated.

12. The method of claim 7 , further comprising an act of (e) receiving from the same client information that uniquely identifies the aspect of the client identified by the first information in the act (a) and information that uniquely identifies the aspect of the client identified by the second information in the act (b); and wherein the act (c) comprises an act of determining that the first and second remote applications are emulated on the same client when the information received in the act (e) matches the first and second information.

13. The method of claim 7 , wherein the act (c) comprises determining that the first and second remote applications are emulated on the same client and may belong to the same context when the first information matches the second information.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the first information comprises an address of the client on which the first remote application is emulated and the second information comprises an address of the client on which the second remote application is emulated.

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein the first information comprises an internet protocol (IP) address of the client on which the first remote application is emulated and the second information comprises an IP address of the client on which the second remote application is emulated.

16. The method of claim 7 , further comprising an act of: (f) if it is determined in the act (c) that the first and second remote applications are not emulated on the same client, preventing the first and second remote applications from belonging to the same context.

17. The method of claim 7 , wherein the context is administered in accordance with a Clinical Context Object Workgroup (CCOW) standard.

18. The method of claim 7 , wherein at least a portion of the subject data is healthcare-related.

19. At least one computer-readable medium encoded with instructions for performing a method in a system comprising a first client, a context management (CM) server, a remote application server and at least one network that couples together the first client, the CM server and the remote application server, the remote application server executing at least one remote application, the first client executing at least one client application that may share a context with the at least one remote application, the first client further executing an emulation application that emulates the at least one remote application on the first client, the CM server executing a context management service to manage the context, the method for verifying that the at least one remote application is emulated on the first client and may belong to the context, the method comprising acts of: (a) receiving from the first client first information that uniquely identifies an aspect of the first client; (b) receiving from the remote application server second information that uniquely identifies an aspect of a remote client on which the at least one remote application is emulated via an emulation client program which executes on the remote client and displays output of the at least one remote application executing on the remote application server; (c) determining that the at least one remote application is emulated on the first client and may belong to the context when the first information matches the second information; and (d) if it is determined in the act (c) that the at least one remote application is emulated on the first client, allowing the at least one remote application and the at least one client application to belong to the context, the context being defined by subject data for at least one subject usable by the at least one client application and the at least one remote application, the subject data comprising, for the at least one subject, a data item having a set of values comprising at least a first value corresponding to the at least one client application and at least a second value corresponding to the at least one remote application, the set of values identifying the at least one subject in the context, so that a change to the subject data for the at least one subject instigated by one of the at least one client application and the at least one remote application causes a change in the subject data for the other of the at least one client application and the at least one remote application.

20. The at least one computer-readable medium of claim 19 , wherein the act (a) comprises an act of receiving from the first client first information that comprises a hardware address for the first client; wherein the act (b) comprises an act of receiving from the remote application server a hardware address for the remote client on which the at least one remote application is emulated; and wherein the act (c) comprises an act of determining that the at least one remote application is emulated on the first client and may belong to the context when the hardware address in the first information matches the hardware address in the second information.

21. The at least one computer-readable medium of claim 19 , wherein the act (b) comprises an act of receiving, at the remote application server, the hardware address transmitted from the remote client on which the at least one remote application is emulated.

22. The at least one computer-readable medium of claim 19 , further encoded with instructions for performing an act of: (e) if it is determined in the act (c) that the at least one remote application is not emulated on the first client, preventing the at least one remote application and the at least one client application from belonging to the context.

23. The at least one computer-readable medium of claim 19 , wherein the context is administered in accordance with a Clinical Context Object Workgroup (CCOW) standard.

24. The at least one computer-readable medium of claim 19 , wherein at least a portion of the subject data is healthcare-related.

25. At least one computer-readable medium encoded with instructions for performing a method in a system comprising at least one client, a context management (CM) server, a plurality of remote application servers and at least one network that couples together the at least one client, the CM server and the plurality of remote application servers, the plurality of remote application servers comprising first and second remote application servers respectively executing first and second remote applications that are emulated on the at least one client and may share a context, the at least one client executing at least one emulation application that emulates the first and second remote applications on the at least one client, the CM server executing a context management service to manage the context, the method for verifying that the first and second remote applications are emulated on a same client and may belong to a same context, the method comprising acts of: (a) receiving from the first remote application server first information that uniquely identifies an aspect of a client on which the first remote application is emulated via an emulation client program which executes on the client and displays output of the first remote application executing on the first remote application server; (b) receiving from the second remote application server second information that uniquely identifies an aspect of a client on which the second remote application is emulated, via an emulation client program which executes on the client and displays output of the second remote application executing on the second remote application server; (c) determining that the first and second remote applications are emulated on the same client and may belong to the same context by examining the first information and the second information; and (d) if it is determined in the act (c) that the first and second remote applications are emulated on the same client, allowing the first and second remote applications to belong to the same context, the context being defined by subject data usable by the first and second remote applications, the subject data describing at least one subject, the subject data comprising, for the at least one subject, a data item having a set of values comprising at least a first value corresponding to the first remote application and at least a second value corresponding to the second remote application, the set of values identifying the at least one subject in the context, so that a change to the subject data for the at least one subject instigated by one of the first and second remote applications causes a change in the subject data for the other of the first and second remote applications.

26. The at least one computer-readable medium of claim 25 , wherein each client that emulates a remote application executing on the at least one remote application server logs into the remote application server using login information, wherein the first information comprises the login information for the client on which the first remote application is emulated and the second information comprises the login information for the client on which the second remote application is emulated.

27. The at least one computer-readable medium of claim 26 , wherein the login information comprises a user identifier.

28. The at least one computer-readable medium of claim 27 , wherein the first information further comprises an internet protocol (IP) address of the client on which the first remote application is emulated and the second information comprises an IP address of the client on which the second remote application is emulated.

29. The at least one computer-readable medium of claim 26 , wherein the method further comprises an act of (e) receiving from the same client information that uniquely identifies the aspect of the client identified by the first information in the act (a) and information that uniquely identifies the aspect of the client identified by the second information in the act (b); and wherein the act (c) comprises an act of determining that the first and second remote applications are emulated on the same client when the information received in the act (e) matches the first and second information.

30. The at least one computer-readable medium of claim 26 , wherein the first information further comprises an address of the client on which the first remote application is emulated and the second information further comprises an address of the client on which the second remote application is emulated.

31. The at least one computer-readable medium of claim 25 , wherein the act (c) comprises determining that the first and second remote applications are emulated on the same client and may belong to the same context when the first information matches the second information.

32. The at least one computer-readable medium of claim 31 , wherein the first information comprises an address of the client on which the first remote application is emulated and the second information comprises an address of the client on which the second remote application is emulated.

33. The at least one computer-readable medium of claim 31 , wherein the first information comprises an internet protocol (IP) address of the client on which the first remote application is emulated and the second information comprises an IP address of the client on which the second remote application is emulated.

34. The at least one computer-readable medium of claim 25 , further encoded with instructions for performing an act of: (f) if it is determined in the act (c) that the first and second remote applications are not emulated on the same client, preventing the first and second remote applications from belonging to the same context.

35. The at least one computer-readable medium of claim 25 , wherein the context is administered in accordance with a Clinical Context Object Workgroup (CCOW) standard.

36. The at least one computer-readable medium of claim 25 , wherein at least a portion of the subject data is healthcare-related.

37. A context management server for use in a system comprising a first client, the context management server, a remote application server and at least one network that couples together the first client, the context management server and the remote application server, the remote application server executing at least one remote application, the first client executing at least one client application that may share a context with the at least one remote application, the first client further executing an emulation application that emulates the at least one remote application on the first client, the context management server comprising: at least one processor to execute a context management service to manage the context; and at least one controller that: receives from the first client first information that uniquely identifies an aspect of the first client; receives from the remote application server second information that uniquely identifies an aspect of a remote client on which the at least one remote application is emulated via an emulation client program which executes on the remote client and displays output of the at least one remote application executing on the remote application server; and determines that the at least one remote application is emulated on the first client and may belong to a same context when the first information matches the second information; and if it is determined that the at least one remote application is emulated on the first client, allows the at least one remote application and the at least one client application to belong to the context, the context being defined by subject data for at least one subject usable by the at least one client application and the at least one remote application, the subject data comprising, for the at least one subject, a data item having a set of values comprising at least a first value corresponding to the at least one client application and at least a second value corresponding to the at least one remote application, the set of values identifying the at least one subject in the context, so that a change to the subject data for the at least one subject instigated by one of the at least one client application and the at least one remote application causes a change in the subject data for the other of the at least one client application and the at least one remote application.

38. The context management server of claim 37 , wherein the controller receives from the first client first information that comprises a hardware address for the first client, receives from the remote application server a hardware address for the remote client on which the at least one remote application is emulated, and determines that the at least one remote application is emulated on the first client and may belong to the same context when the hardware address in the first information matches the hardware address in the second information.

39. The context management server of claim 37 , wherein the at least one controller, if it is determined that the at least one remote application is not emulated on the first client, prevents the at least one remote application and the at least one client application from belonging to the context.

40. The context management server of claim 37 , wherein the context is administered in accordance with a Clinical Context Object Workgroup (CCOW) standard.

41. The context management server of claim 37 , wherein at least a portion of the subject data is healthcare-related.

42. A context management server for use in a system comprising at least one client, the context management server, a plurality of remote application servers and at least one network that couples together the at least one client, the context management server and the plurality of remote application servers, the plurality of remote application servers comprising first and second remote application servers respectively executing first and second remote applications that are emulated on the at least one client and may share a context, the at least one client executing at least one emulation application that emulates the first and second remote applications on the at least one client, the context management server comprising: at least one processor to execute a context management service to manage the context; and at least one controller that: receives from the first remote application server first information that uniquely identifies an aspect of the at least one client on which the first remote application is emulated via an emulation client program which executes on the client and displays output of the first remote application executing on the first remote application server; receives from the second remote application server second information that uniquely identifies an aspect of the at least one client on which the second remote application is emulated via an emulation client program which executes on the client and displays output of the second remote application executing on the second remote application server; determines that the first and second remote applications are emulated on a same client and may belong to a same context by examining the first information and the second information; and if it is determined that the first and second remote applications are emulated on the same client, allows the first and second remote applications to belong to the same context, the context being defined by subject data usable by the first and second remote applications, the subject data describing at least one subject, the subject data comprising, for the at least one subject, a data item having a set of values comprising at least a first value corresponding to the first remote application and at least a second value corresponding to the second remote application, the set of values identifying the at least one subject in the context, so that a change to the subject data for the at least one subject instigated by one of the first and second remote applications causes a change in the subject data for the other of the first and second remote applications.

43. The context management server of claim 42 , wherein each client that emulates a remote application executing on the at least one remote application server logs into the remote application server using login information, wherein the first information comprises the login information for the client on which the first remote application is emulated and the second information comprises the login information for the client on which the second remote application is emulated.

44. The context management server of claim 43 , wherein the login information comprises a user identifier.

45. The context management server of claim 44 , wherein the first information further comprises an internet protocol (IP) address of the client on which the first remote application is emulated and the second information comprises an IP address of the client on which the second remote application is emulated.

46. The context management server of claim 43 , wherein the first information further comprises an address of the client on which the first remote application is emulated and the second information further comprises an address of the client on which the second remote application is emulated.

47. The context management server of claim 42 , wherein the controller further receives from the same client information that uniquely identifies the aspect of the client identified by the first information, information that uniquely identifies the aspect of the client identified by the second information, and determines that the first and second remote applications are emulated on the same client when the information received matches the first and second information.

48. The context management server of claim 42 , wherein the controller determines that the first and second remote applications are emulated on the same client and may belong to the same context when the first information matches the second information.

49. The context management server of claim 48 , wherein the first information comprises an address of the client on which the first remote application is emulated and the second information comprises an address of the client on which the second remote application is emulated.

50. The context management server of claim 48 , wherein the first information comprises an internet protocol (IP) address of the client on which the first remote application is emulated and the second information comprises an IP address of the client on which the second remote application is emulated.

51. The context management server of claim 42 , wherein the at least one controller, if it is determined that the first and second remote applications are not emulated on the same client, prevents the first and second remote applications from belonging to the same context.

52. The context management server of claim 42 , wherein the context is administered in accordance with a Clinical Context Object Workgroup (CCOW) standard.

53. The context management server of claim 42 , wherein at least a portion of the subject data is healthcare-related.